Killer Bee

While not an S4 owner YET (silver, nogaro or imola..damn damn damn), imo, stage 1 chipping should not prove detrimental to any part of the powerplant,
turbo's included. However, I would be VERY hesitant to chip an S4 "right out
of the box". I will be leaning to chipping, but only after things are quite broken in... if you chip right away you cannot know if turbo failures of any sort are attributable to the chip or not (ok.. we DO know they are not.. but AoA, or in my case, AoC, will take the stance that they are). Personally, I'm going to give the car a fair shake in its' stock form, and change whatever I don't like. Plus, I don't have the cash most of you seem to have (&^@%&*%#)... $1000 a corner ??
WOW WOW WOW


Donations accepted,

Earnie

S 4 Paul

Correct me if I am WAY off base here but isn't the point of the Chip to get the true performance capability out of this car? The stock US S4 is "detuned" - supposedly to better pass US Emissions. This would seem to indicate that it would perform more in line with a Chipped S4 were it not for US Emissions AND Insurance concerns. Don't they provide warranty coverage to S4s in Europe. If they car is capable of so much more...why keep us from realizing its true potential. I understand that AoA must keep there official Anti-Mod stance. But, come on AoA, you know DAM well that most of us bought this car because of what was jsut beneath the surface! Audi is widely heralded in Europe as THE definitive tuner car. Many of the best tuning companies are spear-headed by ex-Audi people AND some European Dealers offer Mod Packages straight off the lot! I think it is entirely unfair to detune the car for the US and completely tire out hands from making any changes. If they are really concerned about mods hurting the car, test them out and give certain tuners (like APR and MTM) your blessing. This would get you more buyers (that might get an M3!) and not increase warranty repairs. Come on AoA...wake up and smell the truth!<p>2000 Silver & Onyx w/ Silver Alcantara (Miami, FL)
*Chipping in July!!!

davidjuw

Has anyone dynoed a stock S4? I ask because many european magazines that I have read seem to think the Audis HP and 0-60 ratings are very low ball. I think that they are doing this to keep the insurance bracket level of the S4 lower. In Audis brochure they claim a 0-60 time of 6.5!!! The car can do 5.5 in every major magazine. I think this is Audi trying to keep our insurance premiums low? What do you guys think?<p>David J
<a href="mailto:dpjubelirer@students.wisc.edu"><img src="http://www.audi.com/motorsport/images/national/s4.jpg" border="0" alt="'01 On Order!"></a>

S 4 Paul

<p>2000 Silver & Onyx w/ Silver Alcantara (Miami, FL)
*Chipping in July!!!

George @ BostonAudi

Anything that increases wear and tear on the car will increase the risk that Audi takes on with their warranty coverage. In Europe, warranties are 1 year. And, coincidentally, the car has more power. Its not an insurance issue. Insurance is low because a lot of insurance companies have the car missclassified (and most of them are correcting that, I know several people who had their insurance jump a LOT recently when their insurance company stopped considering the S4 the smae as the A4).

The real problem is the attitude that so many people have here that they have some god given right to chip their car and expect Audi to cover their ***. The end result of that is that people who have LEGITIMATE PROBLEMS with their cars are starting to get the run around from Audi because of all the claims that happen from people using a car beyond the state that Audi warrants the car at.

Note, its not beyond what the car can do, just beyond what Audi and their insurance companies have determined is a safe configuration for them at the price they want to buy their warranty insurance coverage at. Its the same reason why legally you're supposed to notify your insurance company if you modify the car, because just as more power increases the risk YOUR insurance company chooses to assign to you, more power means more wear and tear and more risk that AUDI's insurance company assigns to Audi in return for providing coverage for the car.

S 4 Paul

For the record, I haven't chipped my car yet because I don't want to have warranty issues. To be fair, if I chip the car, I wouldn't want Audi to give me free service and parts when the chip contributed to their demise. I am honestly under the impression that this car is overbuilt. It can handle much more than stock. I will agree that any increase in power comes with an increase in wear but so does the type of street you drive, highway v. city driving, is it garaged or not, what't the weather like where you live, how do YOU drive the car, what type of Gas do you put in it. The list goes on and on. Some of these do impact an inviduals insurance but do not change the warranty coverage. I always put in 93 octane, higher than required. My car is garaged dam near everywhere (work and home). I paid the extra bucks for synthetic oil. I know how to drive a stick (some don't and Audi pays the price). My Point? In a perfect world, we would each get insurance based ENTIRELY on our own driving and we wouldn't pay a higher premium because the "average" male driver is a moron. We also would get warranty coverage more in line with our unique driving ability and car care. However, in this imperfect world, we all pay higher insurance premiums for the morons out there and ALL OF US already pay more for this car because it IS a high-performance vehicle that WILL require more maintenace, adjustments, and replacements. Now...will a group of us chipping our cars impact Audi's pricepoint and service? Definately to some degree...just as will those that can't drive this car properly, park it in an open lot in Chicago all winter long, run 89 Octane, ride the clutch, speed and wreck their car. All of these and more impact all of us. I am not looking to contribute but I think, overall, even with a chip, I am among the small percentage that minimizes Audi's expenses. My $0.02....<p>2000 Silver & Onyx w/ Silver Alcantara (Miami, FL)
*Chipping in July!!!

bacos4

In Europe hi test is something like 96 octane here in North America hi test is only 91. Audi is worried about detonation occuring using our crummy gas and have "detuned" the engine accordingly. Where we really get hit is on the torque side. We only get hit with a 15HP defecit. So "chippers" GOOD LUCK I would be careful in extracting high performance over extended time with out some sort of octane boost

Killer Bee

George/Paul,

Excellent points made by both of you. I personally dont' expect Audi to warranty something that fails because of chipping, but my belief is that if
you allow the engine the proper break in period, there is no way a .8 bar
chip should cause any more wear and tear on the turbo or associated components than would occur normally, especially if driven in a responsible
and normal manner (as Paul alluded to). However, someone that Stage 3's,
races and rallies both on the street and track... well.. they shouldn't really
expect ANY warranty to apply.

Emptor praecaveo (buyer beware... no latin for "modifier")

Earnie

Bollinger

Read your manual. Our 91 octane is the same as their 96.

Flyboy

First off, the European version only has 15 hp more than the US, I wouldn't call that much of a difference. Second, how do you reason that running at double the standard boost level will not affect the life of the components. Third, I don't recall any posts from people with Stock setups doing anything near 5.5 sec 0-60. Was that 6.5 time for a Tip.<p>2001 S4
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